Orthognathic surgery is generally performed to correct conditions of the jaw and face related to structure, growth, sleep apnea, TMJ disorders or to correct orthodontic problems. For example, an individual who has a significantly receded upper jaw or an open bite might benefit from a maxillary osteotomy. In such a procedure, a surgeon makes cuts below both eye sockets to separate a segmented part of the maxilla from an intact portion of the maxilla. The entire segmented part, including the roof of the mouth and all upper teeth, can move as a single unit. The segmented part is then moved until the upper and bottom teeth fit together properly. Once the teeth are realigned, tiny screws and plates are used to fix the segmented part of the maxilla in its new position until natural bone healing takes place.
Some orthognathic surgeries affix multiple plates to the maxilla to hold the cut segmented part of the maxilla relative to the second intact part. As one could imagine, the adaptation and use of multiple plates make the procedure unnecessarily long and complicated.
Other plating systems require multiple disciplines such as surgeons, dentists, orthodontists, etc to complete the procedure. As a result there often times are misunderstandings between the disciplines. These and other disadvantages are attributed to such plating systems used in orthognathic surgeries.
Therefore, it may be desired to achieve a better and more accurate way of planning and performing orthognathic surgery.